1 Rappen Wheat spike

Switzerland retained the 1 Rappen longer than almost any comparable denomination in Western Europe, not out of monetary necessity but because removing it required a federal council decision and periodic public debate that kept getting deferred. By the 1990s the coin cost more to produce than its face value, a fact the Swiss National Bank acknowledged openly for years before the piece was finally demonetized in 2007. It had not meaningfully participated in daily commerce for decades before that.

The bronze alloy used throughout this run was consistent with pre-war composition standards — no wartime substitutions were ever made to the 1 Rappen, unlike the larger denominations that briefly shifted materials in the 1940s.